Erbium Sulfuricum: The 'tourist'

by Margriet Plouvier Suijs

Case

Actual complaints:
A young man of 19 years old, student in econometrics, visits the clinic. The skin of the hand-palms and feet-soles is dry for some weeks. He can live with it, but it annoys him. In the daytime he is concerned about his hands and picks the scales all the time, during the night it doesn’t bother him.
In general he takes healthy meals, doesn’t smoke, hardly uses alcoholic drinks and takes no drugs.
He goes to sleep late at night and gets up at noon, except for the days he has to go to his lessons.

History:
One year ago, during exams he had a rubella infection. He was severely ill for a week.
He had no vaccinations as a child!
During the same year persons of his age were advised to take a vaccination to prevent Meningitis. He decided himself to have that vaccination without asking his parents about it.

As a toddler he had a recurrent inflammation of the middle ear. He had tubes and for half a year he had a purulent discharge from both ears. In the end the discharge was offensive.
Then one dose of Sulphur C30 did a miracle!
Some years later he had an infection in the middle ear again, one dose of Myristica Sebifera worked nicely.
Because of the fact that his sisters needed glasses, he was examined by the ophthalmologist at the age of 10 months. To activate one of his eyes, the other was plastered off, but not for long. He threw the plaster off immediately. So he did with his glasses, which he got at the age of 11 months. Then he had Atropine drops in the good eye to activate the bad one.
He had a parotitis repeatedly (maybe caused by the drops?). During that time he had Mercurius with doubtful result.
Later he had been operated on for strabismus.

Pregnancy and delivery:
During pregnancy everything was fine. The delivery was exactly at the expected date. During the night at 4 a clock the labour pain started smoothly. His mother used her time during the forenoon to clean the house. At 2 p.m. they arrived in the hospital.
The gynaecologist examined her. The opening up of the portio-cervix was 2 cm. The gynaecologist proposed to disrupt the membrane, but the answer of his mother was; “No, let it happen, the baby will show himself soon enough.” 2 Hours later the gynaecologist had to run for the delivery.
In the beginning he was developing very well.
At the age of 2 years old his earaches started.

“I will do it my way”
He is the youngest of 3 children, he has 2 older sisters. He lives a very relaxed life, he does as he wants to.
He showed this already as a toddler by throwing away the eye plaster, which he needed therapeutically.
His elder sister had the same therapy and she didn’t protest to it.
When he was 3 years old he walked out of the backyard, just making a round, (his mother looked for him everywhere). He just came back to the front door of the house.

As a toddler his mother let him free when they were in a store. The sales-women were amused because he tried to put on a bathing-suit by himself. He was 8 years old when he said to his mother; "You better help my sisters to find new clothes for them, I will do it myself!” Luckily the budget allowed him to make his choice. He always had good taste about clothes. His schoolmates said about him that he was perfectly dressed.

His self-confidence was shown as well at a moment he was ill at the age of 10. His mother had to work outdoors during the forenoon. “Well” he said to her, “you go and ask the neighbour woman to come and have a look at me.” And so it happened.

He lives as if he has a (Dutch) song in his ears; “You don’t have to tell me how to live, I live my life my way….” The way he lives is like he is a tourist here.
The expression on his face is like being amused, he is laconic, not easily bothered. His father can be angered because he is leaving all his things around and from time to time he is willing to clean up. He charms his mother for the meals she cooks; “That is tasting good, mum!” When he doesn’t like the meal he postpones his compliment until the sweets because he always has to be honest.

He is a bit reserved with strangers, but after a while he is charming and interested. He is amused by stories of others, whatever happened to them. He doesn’t talk so much about himself. He is an easy member of the group of friends and is lending and borrowing easily. He is very pleased when people are explicit.
He doesn’t like to be managed and neither he will manage someone else. Most of the time he is willing to help, BUT he is the one who will appoint the time for it.

The only difficulty he has is the moment when he needs attention. How do you get the attention of your mother when you live like a tourist? During an intense conversation he and his mother concluded that he should asks for attention in an explicit way.

Passenger in a relationship:
He decided for this consultation at this very moment he doesn’t know what to do. He is a student and needs time to study, he has his friends and he has a girlfriend.
I ask him: “What is her opinion?” “Well” he says: “may be that’s the problem!”
For 2 month he has a girlfriend. The relationship started very easily, but at this moment it doesn’t work. He lives just like he always does, like a tourist, a passenger. He observes himself wondering about relating to her. In fact he is not relating, he is just looking at it. It cannot grow like this.

Analysis:
Description and reaction of the remedy.
The remedy he had was Erbium Sulfuricum MK.
The reason to choose a remedy of the Lanthani is the autonomy he shows, he is his own boss. He doesn’t take orders and does not give orders either.
His idea is to live and let live.
Erbium is stage 14; laconic, self-reliant, self-evident.
The reason to choose the sulfuricum is that he likes to be well-dressed, his discharges can be offensive and he is very charming.

The day after the remedy he has a pain in the upper abdomen and an acute flu. These complaints fade away. The skin is recovering.
The relationship is growing. He has difficulties to study and he has to re-examine, but he accepts it.

Course:
Some months later, as the stagnation in his study is bothering him, he repeats the remedy.
He remarks that it is going better, he grew during the last months as a human being.
The repetition of the remedy has the expected effect; he has good results for 5 exams and he just has to repeat 2 exams, which he failed during the stagnated period.

2 Years later the effect of the remedy is more obvious.
His growth as social human being, he is much more a group-member and he is more able to work together with other students. Before the remedy he was on his own even while being a member of the group. He was interested in others but always kept a distance. Now he is active in a committee with the aim to do something interesting for the University. In the committee he is doing his own part.
As a student he is doing well and this feels good. He needs more discipline because studying isn’t easy any more and needs concentration. Fortunately it is more interesting as well so being more disciplined isn’t too difficult. It is still according to his way of ‘a joie de vivre’.
The relationship with the first girlfriend lasted a year. Now he has another one.

2 years later he has his masters in econometrics and is on the way to realize a 2nd master degree.